56th Big 33 Football Classic Becomes 'The Tyler Boyd Show'

By Jack Jorgensen

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday marked the 56th installment of the Big 33 Football Classic, pitting some of the best college football recruits from the state of Pennsylvania against the best from Maryland. The prestigious game, which has had at least one alumnus participate in every Super Bowl, is a good starting point to introduce us to future stars of college football.

This year’s game dutifully lived up to that responsibility.

The players from both teams walked to mid-field, they met for the coin toss, said coin was flipped, and then–the ‘Tyler Boyd Show’ began.

With Pennsylvania receiving the ball to start the contest, Pittsburgh Panthers recruit Tyler Boyd took the opening kickoff 91 yards to the house, and we were off and running. After a 3-and-out possession for Maryland, Pennsylvania got the ball right back and Boyd was at it again. On the first play from scrimmage, QB Mack Leftwich (UTEP recruit) found Boyd in the endzone for an athletic scoring grab, laying his 6-1 frame out in full stretch to haul in the pass.

Two touchdowns for the two-time Mr. Pa. Football in less than a minute span. Okay, that’s enough, right? Wrong.

Later in the first half, Boyd would take a snap from the wildcat formation and grab another six points on a four-yard TD run. Then, to further showcase his versatility, he would perfectly execute a halfback pass, hitting WR Brian Lemelle (UConn recruit) on a 68-yard touchdown strike–perfectly in stride, while under pressure.

Boyd would go on to finish the game accounting for an eye-popping five touchdowns, in four different ways. Capping off the contest with 310 total yards, it was no surprise to anyone that he was named the game’s MVP in the 58-27 Pennsylvania rout.

I’ve followed a good portion of Boyd’s career throughout high school, and he showcased to the nation that he is as good as advertised. Head coach Paul Chryst and the Panthers have a dangerous weapon on their hands, I knew that from the moment he committed to staying home for his college career.